MSP, MSSP and IT Notes Industry February 21st 2021

February 21st, 2021

MSP. IT & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

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Ntiva Secures SOC 2 Type 1 Compliance for its Client Support Operations

• Ntiva, Inc., announced that it has successfully completed the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type 1 audit for their Client Support Operations
• Audit performed by conducted by Meerholz & Associates PLLC
• The SOC 2 provides assurance that Ntiva's internal controls have been designed and implemented to meet the requirements for the security principles set forth in the Trust Services Principles and Criteria for Security, Availability, and Confidentiality

Loffler Companies Named to CRN's 2021 MSP 500 Elite 150 list for Excellence in Managed IT ...

• The Channel Company, named Loffler Companies to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category
• List identifies North American solution providers that deliver operational efficiencies, IT system improvements
• MSP Elite 150 recognizes large MSPs with significant managed service portfolios offering a strong mix of on- and off-premises service

iTecs Enters Into A Distribution Partnership With StrikeForce Technologies, Inc

• iTecs Outsourcing, LLC, enters into a distribution partnership with StrikeForce Technologies
• iTecs Outsourcing, LLC, is an IT MSP, cloud hosting, and cybersecurity company
• StrikeForce Technologies, Inc, a cyber technology company
• iTecs will now offer PrivacyLok and SafeVchat
  • SafeVchat is the first cybersecurity firm-developed video conferencing solution that provides all the features of Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, but with security in mind

CRN Names ConRes To Its 2021 MSP 500 List

• The Channel Company, named ConRes to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Security 100 category
• List recognizes leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services
• MSP 500 has three sections: the MSP Pioneer 250, MSP Elite 150, Managed Security 100

CRN Names InfoSystems To Its Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list for 2021 in the Pioneer 250

• The Channel Company, named InfoSystems to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Pioneer 250 segment
• List recognizes leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services
• MSP 500 has three sections: the MSP Pioneer 250, MSP Elite 150, Managed Security 100
• "Effective MSPs enable companies to focus on their core objectives while improving the quality and reliability of their cloud computing capabilities," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company

CRN Names Onix to its 2021 MSP 500 List

• The Channel Company, has named Onix to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Pioneer 250 category
• List recognizes leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services
• MSP 500 has three sections: the MSP Pioneer 250, MSP Elite 150, Managed Security 100
• The MSP 500 list will be featured in the February 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/msp500

IT Solutions for Remote Work Boost Law Firm Productivity

• identifies law firm remote work challenges and recommends IT solutions that enhance productivity in a new blog article
• "The shift to remote work brought greater flexibility, reduced overhead, and increased profits as well as challenges that firms need to address," stated Jennifer Mazzanti, CEO, eMazzanti Technologies

Remote Work Challenges for Law Firms

• "Security and regulatory compliance. The legal industry deals with regulations from state ethics panels and privacy laws such as CCPA and HIPAA. At the same time, law firms of all sizes represent an attractive target for cyber criminals."
• "Slower than usual internet. Video calls eat up bandwidth. And with multiple family members using the internet, productivity can slow to a crawl."
• "BYOD. Every unregulated device that accesses the company network increases the risk of malware or data breach."
• "Document access and storage. Lawyers deal with a huge volume of data, from client communications to important legal documents. They need secure, on-demand access to that information."

Konica Minolta’s Laura Blackmer Recognized on CRN’s 2021 Channel Chiefs List

• The Channel Company, has named Laura Blackmer, Senior Vice President, Dealer Sales to its 2021 list of Channel Chiefs
• RN® Channel Chiefs list, released annually, recognizes leading IT channel vendor executives who continually demonstrate outstanding leadership, influence, innovation and growth
• “I am honored to again be recognized by CRN as a Channel Chief. The challenges of the past year have shown the strength and resilience of our dealer community, and I truly feel we have been more engaged with them than ever before,” said Laura Blackmer, Senior Vice President, Dealer Sales, Konica Minolta.

Managed Service Provider Eplexity Named to CRN 2021 MSP 500 List

• The Channel Company, has named Eplexity to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Security 100 category
• List recognizes leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services

TPx Bolsters Senior Leadership with Three Executive Appointments

• TPx, announced that Ashley Arbuckle has been appointed Chief Product Officer (CPO); Aditi Dravid has been named General Counsel & Secretary; and Mark Roberts has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
• All three new senior leaders report to CEO Don Joos and work closely with the entire executive team to create scale, drive strategy and help build and maintain excellent relationships with clients

Lead for BDR in Texas

• Lead for City of Beaumont, Texas
• Looking for single pane of glass for recovery and backup sue to Disaster or Ransomeware

ORPALIS Imaging Technologies Acquires Experts in Searchable PDFs and Document Automation ...

• Orpalis announces the acquisition of UK-based Aquaforest Ltd., experts in searchable PDFs & document automation for Microsoft platforms
• Reported on aithorithy.com
• ORPALIS is the publisher of SDKs for PDF, document imaging, OCR, barcodes, and formats, for desktop (GdPicture.NET Document Imaging SDK), web (DocuVieware HTML5 Viewer and Document Management Kit), and Cloud (PassportPDF) applications

Foxit Software Announces Successful Completion of SOC 2 Certification

• Announced that it has completed its Service Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) Type 1 examination through an independent audit
• SOC 2 examination was performed by an independent, third-party organization
• AARC-360 to perform the independent certification

iManage Work Delivers 378 Percent ROI, as Found by Total Economic Impact Study

• Announced findings of study by Forrester Consulting
• Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) and benefits realized by corporate legal departments deploying iManage Work
• Concludes companies attained an ROI of 378 percent over a three-year period, with iManage paying for itself in less than 6 months

Kyocera Document Solutions recognised in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms

• Kyocera Document Solutions Europe announced recognized for the first time as a niche player in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms (CSPs)
• Kyocera continues to strengthen its portfolio of content service platforms, including enterprise content management (ECM). As part of this strategy, Ceyoniq Technology, DataBank IMX, Alos, Ever Team Software SAS and OPTIMAL SYSTEMS have joined the Kyocera family in recent years
• “We are excited to be included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms and will continue to make efforts to expand our solutions in order to help our customers put knowledge to work,” adds Engelbrecht

IAOP Names Canon Business Process Services a Top 100 Global Outsourcing Leader for the Fifteenth Straight Year

• named to the Leader category of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals' (IAOP®) 2021 Global Outsourcing 100® list
• list defines the standard of excellence in outsourcing service delivery
• "Now, more than ever, outsourcing end-users need to be able to easily identify and select the right company for their outsourcing needs," said Debi Hamill, IAOP CEO

Is this another security issue for MFPs?

Forescout Cybersecurity published new report on 9 new security vulnerabilities in some IoT devices

• Vulnerabilities in the communications protocols used by millions of Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) devices could allow cyber attackers to intercept and manipulate data.
• vulnerabilities in some TCP/IP stacks have been detailed by cybersecurity researchers at Forescout, who've dubbed the set of nine new vulnerabilities as 'Number:Jack'.
• TCP/IP stacks found to contain the vulnerabilities include several open-source stacks analysed in Forescout's previous study, including uIP, FNET, picoTCP, Nut/Net, cycloneTCP and uC/TCP-IP.
• Vulnerabilities have also been discovered in Siemens' Nucleus NET, Texas Instruments' NDKTCPIP and Microchip's MPLAB Net.
• (this may impact MFP manufacturers that outsource their code, and is similar to vulnerabilities that were found in MFPs that use Treck Software)

Konica Minolta Ranked #1 MSP by Cloudtango for Second Consecutive Year

• fourth year All Covered has been named to Cloudtango’s MSP100 U.S. annual list
• Cloudtango recognizes the most successful managed service providers (MSPs) around the world in what has become a global reference due to its independent approach and in-depth analysis
• the 2021 awards, the technical analysis has focused on cybersecurity, support, infrastructure and cloud services

lead for IT Services in New Jersey

• Trenton Housing Authority
• RFP for Information Technology Support Services

Cybersecurity Updates

• With a single update, a popular barcode scanner app on Google Play transformed into malware and was able to hijack up to 10 million devices as reported by Malwarebytes
• Lavabird Ltd.'s QR code barcode scanner was an Android app that had been available on Google's official app repository for years
• • accounting for over 10 million installs
• ESET Cybersecurity is reporting that there is a 768% growth in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks over the course of 2020
• • detected 29 billion attempted RDP attacks across the year, as cyber criminals attempt to exploit remote workers.
• The United Nations reported that the country of North Korea is using money it received from hacking to modernize its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles
• • “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at
    approximately $316.4 million”
  • illegally obtained proceeds “estimated at up to $2 billion”
• A security researcher’s analysis of 30 popular health apps (they weren’t named) finds problems:
• • 50% of the apps store PHI
  • 100% of API endpoints were subject to BOLA attacks (broken object-level authorization) that can allow access to full patient records.
  • 50% of the apps allowed clinicians to access to records of any patient by changing the URL that is passed in the “GET” command.
  • 100% of the apps failed to implement certificate pinning to prevent person-in-the-middle attacks.
  • 77% of the apps used hard-coded API keys that never expire and 7% use hard-coded names and passwords.
  • 50% of APIs did not authenticate requests with tokens.
• Nicholas Faber, 25, of Rochester, New York pleaded guilty to one count of computer intrusion causing damage and one count of aggravated identity theft.
• admitted that from about 2017 to 2019, he worked with co-conspirator Michael Fish to access the school email accounts of dozens of female college students and then used information from those school email accounts to gain access to the victims’ social media accounts
• Members of the Egregor ransomware cartel have been arrested this week in Ukraine
• • are the result of a joint investigation between French and Ukrainian police.
  • Egregor gang operates based on a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model
  • rent access to the actual ransomware strain, but they rely on other cybercrime gangs to orchestrate intrusions into corporate networks and deploy the file encrypting ransomware.
• Jones Day Law Firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio has published a number of articles on their web site about ransomware attacks and how they have helped or advised clients how to respond to security incidents.
• • threat actors known as CLOP initially posted some screenshots of files they
  • appear to have exfiltrated
  • involve current and confidential communications

• Central Piedmont Community College of Charlotte, North Carolina
  experienced a ransomware attack that exposed info on an unknown number of students
• The Salt Lake Community College of Utah notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after a cybersecurity incident.
• Council Rock School District of Pennsylvania notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after email phishing incident.
• The federal government reports that 958,000 patients had their PHI exposed because of breaches in January, 2021
• Bannock County of Idaho notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed during recent breach of county servers.
• Renown Health of Reno, NV agreed to pay a $75,000 fine to settle charges that it failed to provide patients copies of their PHI.
• Sharp Healthcare of San Diego, CA agreed to pay a $70,000 fine to settle charges that it failed to provide patients copies of their PHI.
• Syracuse University of New York notified 9,800 students that their info was exposed after email phishing incident.
• University of Colorado notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after cybersecurity incident.
• The National Counterintelligence and Security Center, as well as CBS 60 Minutes TV program are warning that threat actors with ties to China are continuing to target US healthcare, genomic, and other valuable data through hacking and other malicious activities.
• Somerset Independent School District of Texas notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• VMware Carbon Black analyzed data from attacks on its healthcare customers in 2020 and found 239.4 million cyberattacks were attempted in 2020, which equates to an average of 816 attempted attacks per endpoint.
• • That represents a 9,851% increase from 2019.
• Nebraska Medical Center notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cybersecurity incident.
• The City of Oldsmar in Florida notified its citizens that it was able to prevent a hacker from penetrating its network and causing the city’s water supply to be poisoned.
• Chatham County of North Carolina notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Wimberly School District of Texas notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack